Star anise is the fruit of the Illicium verum tree, an evergreen native to northeast Vietnam and southwest China. The fruit is a reddish-brown star with six to eight points, which contains a high concentration of anethole, the compound that carries the flavor of licorice.
Star anise is used in baking, in flavored spirits, liqueurs and vin chaud, to accent meat, in biryani and masala chai, and as part of Chinese five-spice powder. It is also a key spice in Vietnamese phở noodle soup.